Posted on 01/10/2011 5:31:57 PM PST by NormsRevenge
ATLANTA, Georgia (Reuters) – Snow and ice carpeted much of the U.S. Deep South on Monday, leaving at least four people dead, cutting off power to thousands and closing countless roads, authorities said.
Up to nine inches of snow fell in highland parts of the South with lesser amounts in North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi, but authorities said a bigger problem was icy roads.
"Bad everywhere," is how Nicholas Stembridge of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, described roads in his state.
One person died overnight in a weather-related accident in western Alabama, and a second died in central Alabama, according to Yasamie Richardson, spokesman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.
Two others died on icy roads in northern Louisiana, authorities said.
"Any time you have ice on the road it is more of a concern than snow," said Richardson.
Georgia and Alabama declared states of emergency, and authorities closed schools and government offices across Georgia and in parts of Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi.
"We are seeing the ice accumulation across the middle part of the state increasing so roads are deteriorating. But hopefully the lack of folks on the road will lessen the need for emergency services," said Ken Davis, spokesman for Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
The storm was expected to move north up the coast to the northeast, where a winter storm watch was in effect for late Tuesday and early Monday, forecasters said.
Boston could get hit with 12 to 15 inches of snow, and New York City could get 6 to 12 inches, the National Weather Service said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
A sign warns travelers of icy conditions along Interstate 85 after snow and ice carpeted the Deep South in Atlanta, Georgia, January 10, 2011. Snow and ice carpeted much of the U.S. Deep South on Monday, leaving one person dead in Alabama, cutting off power to around 4,000 people in Georgia and closing countless roads, authorities said. REUTERS/Tami Chappell
I had the day off and my company called at 6:30am to tell me the offices would be closed today.
(Thanks for posting the article).
O.M.G. It’s winter. How will we get through this?
The VA hospital in Atlanta called today to let me
know that all appointments for tuesday had been canceled.
They will call later in the week to reset.
I presume that emergencies would still be handled
if you could get there.
Three inches of snow with ice on top here in West Ga.
It will probably freeze again tonight, making driving
hazardous tomorrow.
Tet.
RIP.
We got about 5 inches—it’s beautiful. But it’s terrible to hear that 4 people died on icy roads. :(
This is really as bad as I've ever seen the roads here.
Fortunately we stocked up, and the electricity doesn't seem to be much of a problem because it was mostly snow instead of ice.
Its climate change... You see, this is why the polar bears are freezing and the ice floes are in danger of melting fast! The colder it gets, the faster the planet heats up!
Avert Climate Change! Save Our Planet!
We need a Bolo on Al Gore, where is Al?
>>Fortunately we stocked up, and the electricity doesn’t seem to be much of a problem because it was mostly snow instead of ice. <<
When did they start making electricity out of snow?
;)
(sorry, I couldn’t help myself)
Aiken County, SC, just east of Augusta, GA.
Around here they say it never snows. Wanna bet?
This Global Warming is just awful. Last winter it snowed once. First snow in five or six years. This winter it’s snowed twice so far. Over Christmas weekend and now again last night. I’ve got about 2” of snow with about 1/4” of ice on top.
Everything was shutdown today and most likely will be tomorrow as well. Folks around here aren’t equipped to handle snow. And they can’t be blamed. ‘cause it never snows here :-)
At least it came on a Sunday and not during the week.
I remember Snowjam.
Got pinto beans and ham in the slow cooker and
my dog to keep me warm, and I don’t have to go
anywhere!
That is amazing. I drove from Atlanta to Raleigh on 85 on the 3rd, and back south on the 4th. It was clear all the way. I guess I was there at the right time.
It's pretty labor-intensive, but it does work. And we have plenty of snow.
:-D
Usually in the South we get ice storms, which coat the trees with heavy successive layers of ice and either break branches off or topple the entire tree . . . and when they hit the lines down goes the power. Snow slides off the branches before it gets that heavy.
The last time I remember this much snow was 1982, power didn't go out then either. We had a blizzard in 1993, but the snow was blowing so badly it was hard to tell how much we got. The wind was strong enough that time to knock out power to some places (not ours).
I don't like to drive on snow OR ice, or in this case snow topped with a thin coat of ice plus thawed and refrozen slush. I have a 4WD truck with limited slip and offroad tires . . . but I don't trust all the loons on the road who get out there with little 2WD sedans and have never driven in snow and ice. When we walked the dogs today we saw a number of ignorant drivers spinning their wheels or sliding into the ditch. I told my daughter if somebody started yawing, dump the dogs and head for the trees!
Fortunately most people have finally decided to stay home. As we came back from our after-dinner stroll things had frozen up so badly that the dogs and I were sliding all over the sidewalk. I just let them off leash and heeled them home -- we all kept our balance better without leashes pulling us at unexpected moments, and we didn't see a single car.
.
Before I lived in Aiken County, I had been born and raised in Minneapolis, a good place to be FROM.
Believe me, upchuck, it never does snow here. (In comparison)
I was working downtown at the time, we were planning to visit the Shot Show at the Omni and then have dinner with a friend who was an exhibitor at the show. So we just took one car to work, my husband dropped me off. At 3 p.m. they sent everybody home (just in time to get caught in the traffic), but my husband came round, picked me up just as the first snowflakes began to fall. We drove over to the Omni, saw the Shot Show, had dinner, and when we came out there were 6 inches of snow on the car but everybody had already gone home. We slithered out of the Omni parking deck and picked our way from the Omni over to Virginia and Briarcliff where we were living at the time. We stayed on the ridgetops most of the way, the only problem was on North Avenue at the old National Linen Service plant (which was just letting out the late shift!) down in the hole. We sat at the top of the hill and let them all sort themselves out, then took a running start down through the gully and up the other side.
The next day we skied over to the golf course at Emory and enjoyed skiing all the hills (we had old wire bindings, you could pop the rear binding and convert downhill skis to cross country ones - very convenient).
We were thinking today about driving over to Chastain Park to sled the big hill on the 17th fairway, but our street was solid snow and ice and is even longer (and steeper), so we just stayed here.
It's not cost effective to invest in any snow-related stuff when an event like this happens only every 10-15 years or so. As long as you don't have to go anywhere, you just sit tight and wait it out.
I’m in Aiken County too. We were talking today about the fact that it is only supposed to snow here once a decade or so!! There is a reason I like living in the south and snow is not it!
We’re at the bottom of a hill and my son and half the neighborhood couldn’t get out today with rear-wheel drives. We won’t be getting out tomorrow morning either!
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